THOUSANDS of North-East workers will be hit in the pocket because of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, trade unions claim.

The TUC estimates that 132,000 people, about 15 per cent of the regional workforce, do not get paid for bank holidays, and about 27,000 get extra pay for some bank holidays only.

The TUC is urging the Government to change the law to ensure employees are paid for taking public holidays as time off, are paid double time or paid the normal rate and given an extra day's paid leave. It also wants a further three bank holidays introduced to bring Britain up to the EU average.

TUC general secretary John Monks said: "This issue is about fairness. Bank holidays like the jubilee should be national days of celebration enjoyed by as many people as possible in the North-East and that means employees must be properly paid for these holidays.

"While we recognise that some people must work on public holidays, they should be compensated for the inconvenience of having to work while the rest of the nation is at play.

"To stop the exploitation of vulnerable workers, there should be new legal minimum standards of pay for public holiday working."